We traveled to Copenhagen to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Poul Henningsen's lighting design.

Few designs have endured with such quiet visibility as Louis Poulsen’s PH 5. Its unmistakable silhouette is often seen in homes modern and traditional, in universities and libraries across the globe, and always seems to find a place within the newest restaurants and most luxe hotels. Movie and television cameos are frequent. In the pantheon of lighting, undoubtedly one or two PH 5s would be found glowing overhead.
In celebration of the design’s 60th anniversary, Louis Poulsen invited Design Milk to tour their factory in Vejen, Jutland, Denmark, affording us the opportunity to learn more about the light’s storied past, relevant present, and the planned future of the company’s most popular lighting design…with even a chance to build one.
The five-shade PH 5’s immutable cultural presence can be attributed to its perfect realization of form serving function, a 100% glare-free light emitting evenly both downward and laterally, with a recognizably agreeable presence whether on or off. Just as diamonds are traditionally associated in celebration of a 60th anniversary ? a matrimonial symbol of enduring permanence ? beyond a few structural tweaks and the addition of several fashionable updates to colors, Poul Henningsen’s 1958 design has remained mostly unchanged in its six decades of existence.
Stills from “Philosophy of l...